The Price of Good Intentions
by Almeric of the Fire
Summary: On a whim, Izaya offers information to the police about a planned kidnap and ransom attempt, for a price of course. The victim is an ambassador's only daughter. The situation becomes dangerous fast when Izaya's intentions are revealed to the perpetrators and he's forced into hiding. Desperate, the police turn to the only man who can find him: Heiwajima Shizuo. (Shizaya/Izuo)
1. Chapter 1

**The Price of Good Intentions**

_Summary:_

_On a whim, Izaya decides to offer his information to the authorities about a planned kidnap and ransom attempt, for a price of course. The intended victim is an ambassador's only daughter. The situation becomes dangerous fast when Izaya's intentions are revealed to the gang who hunt him down. Izaya is forced into hiding before he can sell the information. Desperate, the police turn to the only man they know who can possibly find him: Heiwajima Shizuo._

_Rating: T (depending on whether the plot requires it, this may go up)  
Pairings: Shizuo x Izaya (Shizaya/Izuo), Shinra x Celty  
Warnings: Descriptions of violence, language, boyxboy, possibly incorrect use of honorifics (I'm so sorry but I hated the look of it without), angst probably, overuse of tildes '~'_

* * *

**Chapter one**

The warm glow of sunset filtered into the immaculate apartment of one Orihara Izaya. Sunlight cast the cold furnishings in pinkish orange hues, almost making the place seem homely. Instead of admiring the natural beauty of a sky set ablaze by the dwindling light that signalled the end of the day, the occupant of this particular apartment was raking his gaze over several computer screens. A small frown marred the pale face as he concentrated on his various Internet lurking hotspots.

The Dollars had been pretty inactive lately so there was not much he could meddle in. There was no sign of anything otherworldly happening either aside from the occasional mentioning of the Black Rider, which was dreadfully uninteresting. The gangs weren't up to anything big either. With a sadistic grin, Izaya flexed his fingers and reached to his keyboard.

_If I can't find something interesting, I may as well make something interesting. My humans would love a bit of variety~_

Instead of typing furiously, he found himself hesitating. Even though he went through the motions, his usual gusto for causing chaos wasn't rising. In fact, Izaya felt like he couldn't really be bothered to stir up some drama. His clients were a little boring too but one request did pique his interest slightly.

He was asked to find information on the daughter of an ambassador. They wanted all the information Izaya could supply them with. Of course, he asked why. He was naturally curious so it was natural for him to ask. They refused to answer though which only made Izaya want to supply the information even more. Within a single day, Izaya had gained a whole folder of information and was rewarded with a more than satisfactory payment so Izaya left it at that.

Looking back on the encounter with the client, who was there on behalf of his boss, Izaya wanted to know the whys behind the request. Boredom didn't sit well with him so instead he looked deeper into the girl's family and decided to find out about the client whilst he was at it.

Finally satisfied, Izaya's fingers glided over the keyboard and he hummed to himself.

* * *

To say that Shizuo was in a bad mood was like saying that the Antarctic was cold. It may have been a good description, for an infant, but it grossly understated it. Shizuo was teetering on the edge of losing his temper completely. His usually quiet and calm manner was replaced by fidgeting and clenched muscles. Tom sensed this but he was powerless to stop the words that the debtor was babbling unflinchingly.

The man they were talking to had apparently wanted to become a famous chef but, as the world so often and cruelly does, he never got a break and his dreams were for nothing. They had called him for the return of the money three times already and he'd piled up a lot of interest. It was clear he wasn't smart with the money and didn't get the money back quick enough.

"Don't you guys have dreams? I borrowed the money so I could start a restaurant but-" the man pleaded at Tom.

"Shut up," Shizuo droned, eyebrow twitching. He removed his glasses and tucked them into his vest pocket.

"No! I couldn't be happy knowing that this is all I am! I just need some more time to pay it back."

"Are you deaf?" Shizuo growled, taking his cigarette from his lips and jabbing it towards the man.

"I just-"

After snapping the cigarette in his hand, Shizuo stomped on it before drawing his fist back.

"Aren't you afraid of things always staying the same? That you'll always be less than your best?" The man cried out desperately. Shizuo slammed his fist into the wall beside the man's head. The brick shattered outwards and a small crater was carved out around the point of impact.

"Some of us never had the luxury of that choice," Shizuo growled, his face inches from the debtor. "Do me a favour and pay up so I don't have to see your face again. I don't think I'd be able to keep it in one piece if we do meet in the future."

Moving away, Shizuo walked on and Tom hurried to catch up with him. Tom placed a hand on Shizuo's shoulder and smiled calmly at the blond. "Perhaps we should call it a day, Shizuo-san."

Shizuo shook his head. "No, we still have work to do." He pulled a cigarette from the packet and placed it between his lips before fumbling with his lighter and successfully lighting the stick. The noxious fumes made their home in his lungs briefly before being evicted by an agitated exhale.

Sometimes, Shizuo thought to himself, humans could really annoy him.

* * *

"How I love humans! Let it be known, by every boy and girl, this great truth!" Izaya spun around on his chair, laughing like a madman.

"Are you completely certain you don't want me to examine that brain of yours?" Namie sighed, looking at his desk. "Anyway, why are you bothering to chase this case up? I thought you didn't really bother much with these kinds of requests." She indicated the files on his desk with a jab towards them with the files in her own hand.

"Oh but Namie, I have to wonder why they would even attempt to kidnap such a high-profile victim." Izaya smirked, returning to his work.

"They're completely unremarkable. There's no big source of funds at their disposal so they really don't have much power." Namie pointed a small stack of papers at the man, walking around to stand before Izaya at the other side of his desk.

"And _that _is what is so remarkable! You see these two men?" Izaya pulled up two photo-printouts in one hand and fanned them for Namie's perusal. "They're basically only a little bit more skilful than your average gang leaders. They're after a lot of money and quickly and it seems they want to take on the big fish in this lake. My guess is they want to challenge Shiki-san and put him out of business. It just reeks of a personal vendetta! You know how much I love those."

Namie rolled her eyes. "I thought meddling with people with guns would get tiresome after the number of times you've done it."

"Hmm true, but I think you're missing the point. I've never seen anyone so foolish as to take on Shiki-san that isn't part of a significant gang. They're lacking in numbers but with this target they'll find a lot of interest from the wannabes of the underground. It's all or nothing if they achieve this task."

"I don't like that look on your face."

Izaya grinned over his shoulder impishly. "You don't like any look on my face; you assume I'm always up to no good."

"And I would be correct."

"Your words cut me to the quick." Izaya pretended to look hurt but convinced neither of the people in the room. "I was just thinking about making things a bit more… challenging."

* * *

'_[Subject: (None)_

'_[Wouldn't it be a shame if I accidentally leaked your little plan to the police? Be careful whom you decide to trust because humans can be notoriously greedy.]'_

The black characters on the screen were etched into the white background of the e-mail.

An incredulous pair of eyes read each one with increasing anger. He was so close to starting his plan, to starting his vengeance, that these few words were an insult. He was going to take down the notorious Shiki, cut down the giant and steal his throne.

What kind of insolent fool dared to expose his plans? What kind of moron would just let the police come charging into the underground with all the grace of a herd of scared beasts?

All the subtle strings of power would be torn, tangled and utterly fucked up beyond anything anyone could predict. Clearly whoever sent this had no idea what they were doing. They were going to make mistakes; he'll be able to find them.

"What the fuck is this?"

"Boss?" A smaller bespectacled man looked up from his laptop at the other end of the room at the angered boss's chair. A scarred hand turned his computer screen around and the smaller man stood up daintily and silently stepped forwards to read the screen.

"What is the meaning of this?" The rough voice demanded an answer.

"I-It's a threat, boss?"

"I can see that! What kind of moron would sent such a thing?"

The bespectacled man leaned closer to the screen and murmured the words as he read them. "It doesn't seem like someone inexperienced. The e-mail is anonymous but I have a suspicion that not even I would be able to trace it. Something seems odd about how he phrased it to me…"

"What kind of idiot would want the police meddling in something like this?"

The bespectacled man looked at the e-mail for another long moment before looking towards his boss.

"S-Someone who clearly wants to make a huge mess of things." At saying that, he jolted with realisation. "A-Ah that reminds me, I took the liberty of asking around about Orihara-san when you told me you'd be getting information from him. I found out some interesting things and I've compiled them into this report." He stood and went back to his laptop and quickly searched for what he was looking for. "T-There it is."

A small beep sounded from the boss's computer and he looked at the new e-mail before opening the attachment. The bespectacled man watched for a moment as his boss read.

"You think he is the culprit?" the boss asked, turning to look at him.

"Q-Quite confident of it. From what I've heard, he's a twisted guy who claims to 'love all humans' and seems to find enjoyment in interfering in people's lives."

Silence, and then…

"…'Humans' eh? I think you may be onto something."

* * *

"Ne, Namie-san~?" Izaya's lilting voice rang out through the room. "I want to pick your brain for a moment."

"What?" The woman sighed. "Don't let it drag out too long, I want to get home since Seiji-kun will be there soon."

"I've been thinking about these would-be kidnappers for a while now but I wanted an outside opinion on the best way to really make these gangsters squirm. I've been contemplating informing Shiki-san about them but I had another idea to get the police involved. Have you got any suggestions?"

She stood there and looked at him with a blank but stern expression. "This again? The only opinion you listen to is your own."

"Aw, Namie-chan~ Please?" Izaya looked at her with wide and, on any other person, innocent eyes.

Sighing, she relented. "Why would you want to involve the police? You know how messy they make things."

"That's very true, I'm glad you asked that. What do small-time gangsters fear the most?"

"Getting caught."

"Exactly, they don't have connections like Shiki-san and they certainly can't persuade other gangsters to take the fall for them. So if I were to inform the police, as is my job as an informant, it would be interesting to see just how much they will offer to protect their precious daughter of an ambassador. I could play the hero~ Imagine that!" Izaya laughed.

"You are not a hero, a greedy slimy rat perhaps."

Izaya pouted childishly. "If I didn't know better, Namie-chan, I would think you didn't like me very much~"

"You're cutting into my time. I'll be late."

"Alright, run home to your little brother Stalker-chan~"

Namie clicked her tongue in annoyance and gathered her coat and bag, leaving abruptly. Alone in his apartment, Izaya span around on his chair with a smug look on his face.

"I wonder if they would idolise me if I become the hero."

With a sly grin on his face he set up his untraceable e-mail account and started composing his message. Once finished, he closed it down and got up out of his seat and wandered to the window looking over the view once more.

"I wish I could see you squirm my lovely human," he sighed wistfully and touched the window frame. "It'll be fun to play with you soon though. I wonder how you'll react or if you'll realise that I'm the one doing this. It doesn't matter either way, I'm going to be there to watch you."

* * *

A sudden chill ran up the length of Shizuo's spine and he shivered. Tom looked at him curiously.

"Is something the matter?" Tom asked as they turned the corner around the park.

Teenagers were sat around on the benches laughing together unconcernedly and Shizuo looked around at them wondering what the strange feeling was.

"Probably nothing," Shizuo grunted, "feels like something troublesome though."

"You're right, it's probably nothing." Tom smiled. "We've got a few more on the list for today but I don't expect much trouble from them at all."

"Yeah, I'll stick with you just in case." He nodded as he extinguished his burnt down cigarette.

That day had been mercifully peaceful after the chef incident. That wannabe chef's words had gotten to him though and he'd been thinking about it a lot. _Che, who cares? I can't keep any other kind of job. If I let assholes like him get to me, I'm useless._

But the calmness now unsettled him. Looking up at the sky, turning pink with the lateness of the hour, he noticed not a single cloud.

_Strange, I feel a storm coming._

Noticing his friend's thoughtful expression, Tom spoke up. "Thanks Shizuo and hey, don't listen to that guy. You're doing great."

A little surprised by Tom's words, he looked at him. "Hmm, you think so? …That's nice."

* * *

_And that concludes the first chapter of a slow updating story. I do apologise but, between life and depression, updates will be sluggish. I cannot promise an update schedule since I'll only break it. So far I have three chapters written and the whole plot planned out._


	2. Chapter 2

_Well I posted this ahead of when I thought I would. You may or may not have noticed the new story cover. There's a bigger version on my tumblr. Not sure when I'll be posting the next chapter, like usual. I'm not sure when I'll post the next one but writing isn't going all that quickly for me right now.  
_

_Just let me know if it's at all difficult to discern what kind of speech is which._

* * *

**Chapter Two**

"…_It is currently unknown who caused her disappearance and the police are currently working on several leads. They suspect that whoever it is has ties to a gang and hope to bring her home safely. The daughter of Kazuo Rin, the ambassador for-"_

Laughing, Izaya turned off the television and sipped leisurely at his coffee. He had expected the gang to rush into it the plans and indeed he was right and was quite impressed that they hadn't been caught already. When he opened up the laptop on the table in front of him it was already on an e-mail composition screen and an e-mail was waiting to be sent.

"Izaya, I swear, if I get involved in this stupid plan of yours I will kill you," Namie spoke up, reading Izaya's intentions.

"Oh relax, I'm not doing anything illegal."

"It doesn't mean it's not dangerous for me."

"Don't be such a stick in the mud~ Anyway, you won't have to worry about that. I just need you to keep the business going for a little while. I may end up not being around for a while."

"I expect a pay-rise."

"Proportional to the amount of extra hours you'll be doing, the same rate."

Namie made an annoyed sound in the back of her throat sounding suspiciously like 'cheap bastard'.

"With the extra assumed responsibilities I expect at least a ten percent rise in my hourly rate for the period I'll be working," she insisted, looking at him with a cold glare.

Izaya sighed. "Very well, but if you work extra hours if I'm not here, don't expect me to make allowances for it. And if you don't work the hours, I will know about it and you'll lose that extra ten percent."

"Acceptable."

"You can sing tales of my generosity if you want, I'm sure it'll keep me entertained if I record it~" He pulled out his phone and pointed it at Namie.

"Not on your life."

"Disappointing, oh well~"

* * *

_[__Kanra__: Have you heard about the kidnapping? So scary~]_

_[__Setton__: I have. I hope she's okay.]_

_[__Tanaka Tarou__: Ah, you mean Kazuo Noa-san? Yeah I've heard about that. Apparently the police think gangsters are involved.]_

_[__Kanra__: Yeah, they're asking for a massive ransom for her and I hear she's not the only one to have gone missing too. I haven't heard from my friend in a while, could she be with them too? Ah! I'm so scared!]_

_[__Setton__: That's terrible! I hope she's not with them. Those lowlife gangsters! I wish I could do something to help them.]_

_[__Kanra__: I know! I hope the police solve it soon.]_

_[__Tanaka Tarou__: I hope so too, I'll keep an eye out for anything that can help but I don't think there's much I can do. Let's all keep alert, yeah?]_

_[__Setton__: Yeah, I hope your friend is okay, Kanra.]_

_[__Kanra__: Thank you guys, I hope so too!]_

* * *

Rumours surrounding the case were being spread like wildfire in the Dollars chat room just a day later and Izaya was grinning widely at his screen when he'd seen what he'd caused. He made sure to subtly say that 'Orihara' was talking to the police about the case and, in a way, he was. He'd dropped off some files with omitted details to the police station to entice them along with a means of contacting him. He'd made sure to be in view of known Dollars members to confirm it for him as well.

He leaned back in his chair and smiled widely. Yes, things were turning out well. He picked up his paper coffee cup from the restaurant table and sipped at it. It wouldn't take long at all for word to reach his intended audience. He wasn't normally excited about the thought of being hunted down but this time it felt different for some reason unknown to him.

Navigating the busy streets of Tokyo, Celty raced through traffic on her steed. She turned a corner so fast with bone-breaking forces pulling at her that it was a wonder she wasn't torn from the seat of the bike and the bike sent careening into other cars. Despite the speed she was travelling at, Celty wasn't doing a job or being chased by the police. Shinra had shown concern that Izaya hadn't been sending her jobs to do for a few days now and she was going to head over to the Shinjuku apartment when she caught sight of Shizuo crossing the street up ahead.

The paths weren't so busy now because of the late hour and she pulled over not too far from the crossing and Shizuo wandered over to her.

"Hey Celty, what's up?" Shizuo asked, extinguishing his cigarette underfoot as he walked up.

She pulled her PDA out and typed with deft fingers before lifting the screen up for Shizuo to read. [Nothing much thank you, Shinra's just asked me to do something. I thought I'd talk with you for a moment since you might be able to help me.]

Shizuo removed his sunglasses so he could read the screen better. "Hmm? So what's Shinra asked you to do?" He tucked the glasses away into his pocket.

[He's asked me to check up on Izaya. We've not heard a word from him in almost a week now. Have you seen him recently?]

"Not for a while now, must've been about two weeks almost. I'm not complaining; the louse is finally staying away from Ikebukuro." Shizuo grunted.

[That's strange. He's often out somewhere in Ikebukuro.]

"Don't I bloody know it," he grumbles. "If he's finally got himself killed, I don't care."

[I understand. Thanks anyway, Shizuo.]

She knocked the kickback back up on her bike and was about to drive away when a policeman started running towards the pair of them. "Hey, wait there a minute!" Celty jolted and looked towards the man in scared shock and Shizuo slowly turned around to face him, pulling a cigarette from his packet in his shirt pocket and lighting it.

"What?" Shizuo says plainly.

"A-Are you Heiwajima Shizuo?" He stammers, losing his confidence as the taller man turns around. "W-We need you to uh… come to the station."

"Hmm? Why is that?" He exhales the smoke and looks at the police officer with an annoyed look on his face.

"I'm not sure I should say any details of this in such a public place but it concerns Mr. Orihara. "

"If it concerns him, it doesn't concern me."

Celty tugged on his arm making Shizuo look at her and she quickly typed into her phone. [Maybe you'll find out what happened to him.]

"True but I don't care."

She looked like she sighed before she typed again. [He won't be at his place if the police are looking for him. I'll be going home now.]

"Alright, see you around." Shizuo waved goodbye to her and she sped off.

"Please, we were told you'd be the best person to find him." The policeman pleaded with him.

"So he's missing huh? If I find him, the first thing I would do is kill him, you understand that?"

"Yeah… I'm sorry to have bothered you."

* * *

When she turned up to Izaya's apartment the following morning, Namie was surprised to find the door locked. Thinking nothing much of it she pulled her key out from her bag and let herself in and looked around. She was used to him giving her a greeting as soon as she walked through the door but this time she was met with a cold silence, not that the greeting was any warmer. Sighing, she switched on her computer after closing the door behind her and opened up her e-mails.

['Subject: Stalker-chan']

Groaning, she opened up the e-mail and as she predicted it was from Izaya.

['I'm terribly sorry I can't be there to see one of my darling humans however a change of circumstances has had to receive my full attention. From this day forward you'll be looking after the business until I return as we agreed and in the mean time, if any thugs associated to the case show up, just don't let them in; I've attached a file with photos I've taken in my spare time. I don't want them to mess up the business.']

_Whatever, at least I don't have you breathing down my neck. _She flexed her fingers and set to work.

* * *

The bustling streets in Tokyo felt alien to Izaya as he slipped through the crowds with his hood pulled up over his head. He didn't like feeling the need to watch his back but if he wanted to stick around long enough, and survive, he didn't have much of a choice in the matter. At that moment he was heading towards a safe house and he was carrying a bag over his shoulder with some spare clothes and his laptop inside. The added weight was a bit annoying but necessary.

A cold chill from the wind blew up the back of his neck and he pulled his hood up. It served as a guard from the wind as well as providing anonymity. Though some local gangs knew of his trademark fur-lined jackets, Izaya knew the gang he was messing with wasn't local and only two of their lackeys had seen him in person. He glanced around at the buildings, seeing nothing of particular interest.

He didn't know when exactly it got there but there was a car crawling along just behind him and he cursed himself for not noticing the slow revs of the engine sooner; he picked up his pace subtly and started turning corners away from his intended route. He wasn't afraid but still his heart started beating faster and faster and his hands felt close to trembling. Holding onto his bag with both hands, he tried to appear calm, and he did to the casual observer, but he wasn't sure he was fooling his stalkers.

Before he was even aware of it, he'd strayed into Ikebukuro and he was walking at a brisk pace, trying to fight the urge to run and let on that he knew they were after him. He wasn't sure what kind of weapons the men had but, if they started shooting at him and making a scene, he didn't want to be involved in that.

Glancing around, he spotted his opportunity to get them off his tail. _Thank you one-way systems. _He turned up the path of a one-way street and thankfully there were several oncoming cars. Finally able to get out of their sight for a moment, he relaxed a bit and started running up the path. _Yes!_

Tom had allowed him to wander for a little while whilst he sorted out his business with a debtor. They were being very agreeable, surprisingly, so Shizuo had asked if he could leave for a while to pick up some more cigarettes. Despite a week free from Izaya antagonising him, Shizuo felt restless and he'd noticed he'd been smoking a lot more each day than the usual. He was constantly on the lookout for that stupid jacket and that stupid face. He groaned aloud at what he was thinking. _I keep thinking about that damned flea. Even when he's not here, he finds ways to piss me off._

He was just leaving the shop with a new packet tucked into his shirt when someone jostled him as they clumsily stumbled past after turning a corner. Shizuo rounded on the smaller man just as the man turned with the beginnings of an apology on his lips.

Dark reddish eyes, wide with shock, clashed with blue veiled caramel.

Anger rose in Shizuo and as he was about to swing a fist at Izaya he was interrupted by slams of a car's doors, startling Izaya from his stunned inaction, eyes widening further before his nimbly darted through the crowd before jumping up onto the buildings and vanishing before Shizuo's eyes.

All the while, Shizuo stood there confused at the lack of the customary taunt and the almost panicked look in those reddish eyes. He was broken by the spell by someone else running into him. Reflexively, Shizuo grabbed whoever it was and lifted him with ease from the ground.

"Watch where you're going." Shizuo deadpanned. "If you're chasing that damned flea, you've lost him now."

He put the man down and walked away as if nothing had happened.

"_Shit, was that Heiwajima?"_

"_Yeah, fuckin' hell, he just picked me up like I was nothing! That shit's scary, man!"_

Shizuo didn't catch the rest of what they were saying to each other but found he was a little amused at their reaction.

Izaya came to a stop in a small park area and he caught back his breath, hands shaking with the adrenaline. Stumbling into Shizuo had made his nerves a mess. He'd almost forgotten entirely what he was running from, if it wasn't for the doors slamming then his pursuers might have succeeded in catching him.

A gnawing feeling in his gut told him that Shizuo was going to mess up his plans in some big way. Shaking his head as if to dispel the though, Izaya scoffed at his silly 'premonition'. It made sense that Shizuo would get in his way; that was what kept things interesting. There was no way to tell how things will turn out; there was no routine.

He burst out into laughter, drawing a few furtive glances from others.

He laughed because he wasn't trapped in routine. He laughed because things kept changing yet he was still thinking of silly things like premonitions. He laughed because he could, because he survived.


	3. Chapter 3

_Finally checked through this chapter and I'm happy with how it is. Again, please don't hold your breath for the update after this. Been struggling a lot with motivation recently and it's been getting me down. I hope you enjoy this update and forgive my slowness in the updating of the next chapter. I'm really struggling with it._

* * *

**Chapter Three**

A shrill ringing echoed through Shizuo's apartment. With a sigh he pushed himself off his sofa, his still unlit cigarette in hand. He pressed the answer button and held it to his ear as he lit his cigarette.

"Who is this?" Shizuo droned.

"Good evening Heiwajima-san, I'm calling from Ikebukuro Police Station and I was hoping you would come to the station whenever you're available, we need your assistance on a current case." A woman's voice, she sounded a little nervous. Shizuo could hear it in the tightness of her voice.

"What the hell could I possibly know that would be of any help to you?" Shizuo raised an eyebrow, genuinely puzzled. "I told your officer who approached me that I don't give a damn about that flea, Orihara."

Something in his voice must have sounded threatening to the woman on the phone because she started stammering. "I-I'm sorry, but we really aren't able to locate him at all. None of his accounts that we know of have been active since his disappearance and he's got vital information about a current case. We've been told that you're the one that stands the best chance of finding him."

"Can you tell me who told you that? That smells fishy to me."

There was a brief pause and an utterance of quiet words. "Kanejima Yuu-san was the one who informed us."

Shizuo's eyes widened. "I see… so it's like that is it?"

"He was quite confident that you'd find him before it's too late."

"…I'll hear you out, this'd better be important. I'm heading there now so I'll be about twenty minutes, give or take." Shizuo rumbled.

"Alright, thank you very much, we'll see you soon then."

Shizuo grunted and hung up on her. _How annoying but, if Kasuka seems to think it's important, I'll do it._

* * *

Kasuka sat quietly in a small office and watched the various officers and plain clothes bustling about. He wasn't very confident about it but he was pretty sure that they all seemed pretty tense. Content just to watch, he resigned to waiting for his brother to arrive. Not before long, he saw a mess of blonde hair above the heads of the smaller police workers. He was following after a uniformed officer. She seemed pretty on edge. _Ah, she's heard about Shizuo._

"Kasuka," Shizuo said simply with a hint of a smile on his lips.

"Huh?" The female officer looked between the two men.

"It's alright." Kasuka smiled at her. "If you don't mind, could you allow me to speak with my brother in private with the detective?"

"Oh, um… Of course!" She stepped out of the office and waited outside the closed door and the two men turned to the Detective sat behind the desk.

"Heiwajima Shizuo-san, I presume?" The elder man peered at him through his glasses, brushing back some greying hair from his temple.

"Yeah, you're wanting to find Izaya, right?" Shizuo took a seat next to Kasuka.

"Yes, he's got information that is pertinent to the hostage situation that I'm sure you're aware of."

"I've heard about it online."

"Mm, I'm not surprised. We need to find Orihara-san."

"If I find him I'd try to kill him." Shizuo said simply, even Kasuka looked at him with a trace of surprise in his eyes. "I'm not the best person to find him and bring him back safely."

"I see… Kanejima-san has told me you would be best suited though."

"Please call me Kasuka, Detective. I'm Shizuo's younger brother." Kasuka spoke up, face blank. "I believe my brother will be the best chance you have at finding and recovering Orihara-san."

"Kasuka, why are you asking me to do this?" Shizuo spoke in a low tone, confused and frowning deeply. "You know what he's like. He's always trying to cause trouble for me, getting me into fights."

"His intentions aren't always… good but this time what he's doing might save lives. Please, I'm asking you to try." Kasuka looked at Shizuo levelly.

"…Fine but you know I can't control my temper."

The detective looked between them. "Then it's settled. Shizuo-san, the last time Orihara-san was spotted, he was in the Shinjuku area about two days ago."

"I saw him earlier today in Ikebukuro." Shizuo spoke up, overriding the detective. "He looked like he was running away from some thugs. He bumped into me and managed to slip away."

"Oh, so we should narrow the search down to Ikebukuro, you think?"

Shizuo shrugs. "Whatever is going on, I don't think the police will be of much help in finding him. He's good at running away so, if he doesn't want to come to the station, that's that. I'll see what I can do."

"I understand."

Shizuo grunts and rubs his temple, annoyed. "You want me to bring him back here?"

"If you can, yes."

Grunting, Shizuo stood up and walked out of the office. "I'll see you around Kasuka." He turned to the officer outside the door. "Was it you I was speaking on the phone with?"

"Um, yeah, thanks for coming Heiwajima-san." She stuttered.

Shizuo grunted. "I thought I recognised your voice. I can see myself out, thanks for showing me the way." He said quietly and walked on. Kasuka approached the officer, smiling.

"I hope he didn't scare you. He's a gentle guy really but his temper is a bit short." Kasuka laughed softly. "He's a good brother to me."

"He's really your brother?" She asked him.

"Yeah, if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have become an actor and he does his best for me." Kasuka smiled. "I'm Heiwajima Kasuka but I'd like it if you didn't say anything about that. Shizuo and I are well known but it could be a lot of trouble for us if certain types of people found out."

"O-Of course, it's safe with me."

"I hope so. Thank you for your time."

"Oh no! Thank you for your help!" She rejected the thanks politely, looking very flustered. "You've both been a great help."

"I did what I could." Kasuka shook his head, smiling. "It's up to what Shizuo decides to do now."

* * *

_Damn it, it should have been easy to lose them but they're everywhere._

Izaya sighed and finally dropped to the floor in an alleyway, leaning back against a wall. He'd noticed that at least one of them would be carrying a two-way radio handset in each group. For such a pathetic group of thugs, they were quite organised. Izaya knew they'd be telling other groups where they lost sight of him so they could narrow down their search. Lucky for him, Izaya found plenty of little alleyways to duck down to catch back his breath.

He kept an eye out around the corner of the wall but he knew he'd lost them for now. His heart was hammering in his chest – never feeling so alive. The adrenaline was wearing off and he sat there shaking as he came down from the high. Smiling, he leaned his head back against the wall, letting the tension roll out of his body.

_Alright, time to move. Let's see if I can slip past you fools._

His destination was clear, time to loop back around to his safe house. He'd be able to stay there for a short while if he was clever about it.

* * *

Shizuo looked up towards the dark sky above as he heaved an irritated sigh. It had been a day since he was asked to find Izaya and every now and then he'd catch himself looking down alleyway for a hint of that stupid condescending smirk or a flash of tan fur on a coat too big for the wearer. As he walked, he glanced down an alleyway and looked away shaking his head.

"Damn it… What the hell have you got yourself into you damn flea? I won't let you let you live it down if I end up saving your ass…" He mumbled to nobody in particular. He groaned and held his head as his irritation rose. "Now I'm fucking talking to myself. I'll kill him… But I can't. Damn it, damn it, damn it…"

A woman walked past him with her friend and hummed slightly as she looked at him. "Are you alright?"

"Don't talk to him, he could be a dangerous guy." Her friend hissed but Shizuo caught what she said anyway. He glanced at her after he lowered his hand and looked towards the woman that spoke to him.

"I'm fine thanks." He mumbled a bit sheepishly. "You should probably listen to your friend though. It's not safe at night. I can walk with you for a little while if you want but I've got something to do which I'd rather I not be with you for."

"Oh that's kind of you but I don't want to make you go out of your way for us." She smiled.

"That sounds suspicious." Her friend cut in sharply.

Shizuo looked at her, a slight smile on his lips. "It's nothing bad. I just need to find somebody. He's been missing for a while now and my friends are concerned."

"So they send you, on your own?" She looked suspicious. "Wouldn't they be concerned about you walking on your own? It's not just girls that get attacked, you know?"

Shizuo shrugs. "I'm not the kind of person you need to worry about being attacked. I'll leave you to walk alone if you want. It doesn't bother me either way."

"Are you some kind of thug?" The friend looked at him accusingly. Shizuo just laughed quietly and shook his head.

"I'm a bodyguard but I can see why you'd think that."

"Ooh a bodyguard, that's pretty cool. I'm Ana and the suspicious one is Yue-chan. I'm sorry about her attitude."

"Hey, don't apologise for me when I have no intention of doing that." She protests. "And don't just tell strangers our names!"

Shizuo smiled and held his hand out towards Ana. "Heiwajima Shizuo, that's my name. It's okay; I understand your hesitation."

"H-Heiwajima-san?" Yue looked scared as she recognised his name. "A-Aren't you the one that always fights with Orihara?"

"… Yeah, he's always coming over to Ikebukuro even though I tell him to stay away. It's not something I want to talk about."

Ana looked between the two of them and just as Shizuo was about to lower his hand she reached for it and shook it. "It's nice to meet you."

Shizuo looked surprised and a faint blush rose to his face. "It's nice to meet you too Ana-chan."

"Come on, don't be rude Yue-chan~" Ana smiled brightly towards Yue as she let go of Shizuo's hand. Yue looked at her for a moment and hesitantly held her hand forward and Shizuo smiled as he reached out and shook it gently.

"This doesn't mean I trust you." Yue said as he let go. "It just means that I'll listen to Ana-chan just this once."

Shizuo smiled. "Thank you." He released her hand and they started walking up the street together.

"So this person you're looking for… is he a friend?" Yue asked curiously, eyes still sharply regarding him.

"No, he's not. Not even in the slightest." The words left him with an amused laugh.

"So why are you looking for him?"

"The police asked me to and my…" _brother _"friend said I should help them out."

"Oh so the police asked you to. I thought you said your friends were concerned about him."

"Both are true. Though personally I don't see why they care about someone like him." He really didn't see it. The flea was good for nothing but stirring up trouble. If they wanted someone like that in their lives then that was their business. It was just a pain that he seemed to be the only one able to bring him back.

"So what's the deal with the police wanting him? Is he a criminal?"

Shizuo laughed, not able to help himself at that. "Yeah I guess you could say that, not that the police could ever find anything on that slimy bastard. Apparently he's an important witness for an open case and there are people other than my friends that are looking for him. That's what you get for mixing with the wrong people."

"Hmm, I was right, you are suspicious." Yue looked at him accusingly.

Giving little more reaction than a shrug, Shizuo looked down an alleyway and spotted a small group of guys running towards the main street, coming closer.

"He's looking for someone so that he doesn't get hurt, Yue-chan," Ana protested. "That's a good thing! Heiwajima-san is a good guy!"

Shizuo was only half listening to the bickering between the two young women and was focused on the men that were coming closer, halting in his steps. A moment later the girls noticed he'd stopped and turned to look at him.

"_So you cornered that rat then?" _Shizuo overheard them say into some kind of small device. He assumed it was a walkie-talkie or a phone, it didn't really matter which. He couldn't hear a reply though but the man holding it responded to the unheard voice. _"Yeah we're coming, we're not far anyway. Keep him there and we'll back you up."_

Shizuo watched the men dash right across the street. They looked like typical thugs in baggy nondescript clothing. Realising the girls were watching him, he flushed a little. "Ah sorry, I think I'll have to leave you ladies here. I may have found him." He apologised, a bit embarrassed.

"It's fine right? You go help your friends. Good luck Heiwajima-san~" Ana smiled brightly.

"Mmh… just don't drag us into it." Yue added begrudgingly.

Shizuo nodded and took off in a sprint to catch up with the thugs, waving over his shoulder as he left.

"What a nice guy." Ana smiled after him. Yue looked at her friend with a slight frown.

"Seems like he's also mixed in with the wrong people though. Whatever, as long as it doesn't get me killed it'll be fine."


	4. Chapter 4

_Okay, here's chapter four, it's a bit longer than what appears to be the average of my chapters now and for good reason. I hope you enjoy it. Again, I don't have any idea how long this next chapter will take and I hope you can be patient. Thanks for reading!  
_

* * *

**Chapter Four**

_Burning. My muscles are burning._

Breath rattled in and out of Izaya's lungs as he ran. He couldn't believe they'd found him so easy, clearly the work of some less than legal informant. The thugs were starting to catch up with Izaya. Fresher legs that'd joined the chase later on had replaced the ones that had originally been chasing him and he hadn't managed to break their eye line at all.

Frantic now, he ducked down and alleyway as his stomach dropped when he realised it was truly a dead end. Exhausted, he stopped at the wall, cursing his memory. He turned to face the approaching thugs and steeled his expression, slipping into his customary smirk.

"You're cornered now, you filthy rat!"

Izaya looked to the speaker, a dangerous look flashing across his eyes. "So it seems."

"No smart-aleck comment?"

"They're best saved for people with the intelligence to understand them, I find."

"You damned-"

* * *

"That damned informant messed with the wrong guys!"

_Well that is as good confirmation as any._

Shizuo picked up his pace, keeping enough distance to avoid catching their attention. He found they'd joined up with a small congregation at the end of a wide alleyway. It looked like a delivery access for some high-end shops.

_Can't stay still any longer I guess._

Shizuo lit his cigarette, the sound of the lighter drawing attention to him at last and he looked at the group before blowing out a breath of smoke and stepping forward through the group, glad of the sunglasses concealing his eyes in the dark space. He walked tall, a silent challenge that went uncontested as he stood in front of the gang.

"Izaya-kun," he drawled the name as he bared his teeth at the smaller man. Izaya flinched but only Shizuo seemed to have noticed since the gang were more interested in him.

"Shit, that's Heiwajima!" One of them stammered, clearly a local resident. Shizuo turned to look at him with a slightly deranged smile as if he'd just realised he was there. Turning back slowly, as if he had all the time in the world, he focused his attention back on Izaya who was looking around for any means of escape.

"Ah Shizu-chan, what a wholly unpleasant surprise this is." Izaya grimaced, still short of breath.

"You're dead, flea." Shizuo laughed darkly as he tucked his glasses away into his pocket. He grinned manically.

"I think you may need your eyes testing Shizu-chan. As you can see, I'm still very much alive." Izaya quipped.

Shizuo held his cigarette in his teeth as he suddenly charged forward wrenching a signpost out of the ground, aiming a downward swing at Izaya's head.

"You're dead!" He growled loudly around his cigarette just as his hit would have connected but Izaya managed to narrowly avoid it. The blow connected with the wall as Shizuo was unable to correct the swing in time causing a large hole in the brickwork. Red dust exploded out of the impact and an alarm started blaring. Izaya was about to make a move to get away but Shizuo grabbed him by the front of the jacket and threw him into the hole he'd made in the wall. Glancing back at the group, their view was pretty well obscured.

_Good._

Shizuo stepped over the broken wall and followed Izaya inside, picking up the signpost along the way.

The informant was about to scramble to his feet and looked up at Shizuo, almost with a look of terror on his face. Shizuo roared with rage and smashed the signpost firmly into the ground just next to Izaya and he leaned in close. His chest heaving with hissing breaths of air as he tried to regain his focus, he glared down at Izaya.

"Izaya," Shizuo addressed him in a growl. "Stab my hand now."

"What?" Izaya reeled, not sure whether to be terrified or just find this whole situation to be completely insane.

Doing nothing else, Shizuo offered it to him and watching him with a scowl on his face, only just visible in the flashing of red lights. "Do it now before they investigate. I'm gonna chase them off."

Izaya did it and watched as Shizuo plucked the knife out as if it was nothing. Shizuo shook his injured hand, when he stood up straight making blood splatter all over his white shirt and face. Blood dripped from his hand quite readily and Shizuo punched his other fist into his injured hand, making the blood splatter up his previously clean hand. Looking down at himself, he nodded to himself before turning his attention back to Izaya who'd found the strength in his legs to stand. He held the bloodied knife in his hand and spat out his half-burnt out cigarette.

"Stay here." Shizuo leaned in close and knocked Izaya back with his forearm, making him fall back heavily on his behind. He climbed back through the hole, leaving a bloody handprint on the brickwork. The gang collectively flinched back when they saw Shizuo emerging from the dark building.

"'The fuck you looking at?" Shizuo bared his teeth, glaring at them, casually wiping at his face and smearing blood over it. "Don't you have somewhere else to be or do you want to be next huh?"

"We didn't see anything!" One cried out and fled as fast as his clumsy legs would take him. Wisely, the others followed when Shizuo was about to reach out towards a nearby industrial bin.

Laughing darkly, he waited whilst they'd gone before heading back to the building. Izaya was stood up, looking for another way out of the locked down store. As entertaining as it may have been, Shizuo knew he needed to get Izaya out of there in case the thugs decided to get brave.

"They're gone. Follow me." Shizuo instructed and stepped away from the hole in the building

"Why? What the fuck is going on Shizu-chan? "Izaya yelled.

"I'm saving your sorry ass or had that escaped your notice?"

"Why?"

"No time, just come with me before you're noticed." Shizuo pulled out his phone and dialled Celty's number. After a few rings, she answered and Shizuo was met with silence. Izaya took that time to step out of the hole and stand in the alleyway, curious about what Shizuo intended for him. "Sorry about this but I need your help, Celty."

Silence. What did you expect from a headless woman?

"I have a package for you to deliver to my apartment, it's urgent. I'll explain when you get here." He told Celty the location and hung up the phone.

Shizuo watched Izaya closely, making sure he wasn't about to run away. Izaya was glaring at him as if he was trying to figure him out.

A few minutes later Celty was blazing down the end of the alleyway and screeched to a halt. She saw Izaya and jolted with alarm.

"He's the package. Take off your jacket and hand it over, flea."

Celty looked between the two men, clearly not sure what to do in this situation. She watched as Shizuo held out a bloodied hand towards Izaya.

"I'm not giving you my jacket, Shizu-chan. You'll get it filthy."

"You're dead. You can't be seen riding with Celty-san and it's too fucking recognisable. Do you want them to constantly chase after you, huh?" Shizuo growled, getting impatient. "I promised to try not to hurt you but you're making it fucking difficult."

"Huh?"

"Just fucking give me it and meet me at my apartment! I'll explain when we have the fucking time!" He turned to Celty. "Please make him a helmet, hide his face."

Celty fashioned a visor helmet with her shadows and offered it to Izaya. Looking between the monster and the faerie, he sighed and slid off his jacket, giving it to Shizuo.

"Fine but it'd better be a good explanation." He said as he passed it over. Shizuo grunted and tucked it under his arm, leaving a barely visible bloody smear on it. Izaya took the offered helmet from Celty and put it on, lifting the visor up to show his face and he hopped on behind Celty, taking hold of the seat. He looked at Shizuo and gave an annoyed sigh as he looked away.

"Sorry about dragging you into this, Celty-san. I'll see you soon."

She pulled out her PDA and typed a quick message. [I'll wait with him.]

"Yeah you need to head the explanation too. Here…" He fished out a key from his inside pocket and tossed it to Celty. She snatched it from the air and tucked it into her suit with her PDA. "Head straight there and make coffee if you want whilst you wait, flea."

Izaya looked at him with a blank face and nodded once before snapping down his visor and replacing his grip on the seat. Celty glanced back at Izaya, checking that he was holding on before her steed lurched forward into motion and she gave Shizuo a wave as she turned out of sight.

When she had gone, Shizuo looked at his bloodied hands with a sigh and thought better of trying to get a cigarette from his packet. _That's annoying._

* * *

It didn't take very long for Shizuo to reach his apartment and he pushed open his door to see Celty and Izaya sat on his sofa and Izaya had a cup of black coffee in his hands and looked up as soon as Shizuo came in. Shizuo opened his mouth to say something but closed it again lamely.

"I'll talk in a moment… gonna fix up my hand first," he mumbled. "Oh Izaya, I still have your knife."

"Take your time. It's not like I have to worry about you actually being skilled enough with it." Izaya waved a hand.

"…Right." Shizuo looked at him with a frown and made his way into the kitchen and started washing off his injury with his hand under the running faucet.

He pulled out a tube of glue from his first aid box and poured some onto the wound before turning his hand over and doing the same again. He waited for a while as he pinched the sides of the wound together and was satisfied when the bleeding appeared to have stopped. He picked up a wrapped dressing and carried it in his uninjured right hand and headed back into the sitting room. As he entered Celty typed into her PDA and held it up for him to read.

[I can get Shinra to come here if you'd like.]

"It's alright Celty. I've cleaned it and glued it. It'll be as good as new in a couple of days." Shizuo smiled. He lifted up his newly glued hand to show her the condition. She flinched and typed again.

[How did that happen?]

"I let the flea stab my hand."

She erased her words and typed again, fingers moving frantically, showing Shizuo the screen with a jerky movement. [Why? What on earth happened?]

Izaya looked at Celty, not able to see the screen from where he was sat, before looking at Shizuo. With a sigh, Shizuo started explaining himself.

"The flea was being chased by thugs, most likely related to those kidnappings. I just happened to be walking close by when a group of them were running to where you found us, Celty. I followed them because the police have asked me to help search for Izaya and when they were talking about a 'damned informant' and a 'rat' I knew I had to have the right guys.

"He was cornered at the end of an alleyway so I smashed a hole in the wall when I pretended to fight Izaya and threw him through it. It was then when I told Izaya to stab my hand so I could convince those thugs I'd killed him. All of this is mine." Shizuo gestured to the blood covering his shirt and face. Celty seemed to be stilled with shock as she tried to process what she heard and respond correctly.

After a long moment she typed into her PDA and lifted it for Shizuo to see. He blushed and looked away and Izaya wanted to know what she wrote to get such a reaction from him and he leaned to try and get a better view but Celty was already erasing her message and typing another, this time for Izaya.

[So what is your plan now?]

"I was thinking I could…" Izaya stopped and frowned. "Hmm, it appears I never took getting thrown about by Shizuo into account, how neglectful of me."

Shizuo fixed him with a glare. "Well it's being 'thrown about' by me that saved your ungrateful ass. The police want me to bring you to the station."

"No chance."

"I thought so," Shizuo grumbled. "You can't make things easy. You should go into protective custody."

"And be a sitting duck? Not likely, Shizu-chan."

"Well I can't just let you wander about when you're supposed to be a dead man. You're staying here then. They won't find you here."

"So I'm supposed to be in _your _custody? How unappealing…"

This situation was beyond Izaya's control and he hated it. Standing in his mortal enemy's apartment was not a comfortable place for him to be but as he considered the alternatives he kept coming to the same conclusion. This is the last place he would ever look for himself.

"Shut up flea. I'm not thrilled by this either. To be quite honest, it's gonna be fucking stressful sharing this place with you."

The muscles in Shizuo's jaw clenched and unclenched a couple of times.

"You know I'm just going to end up saying something careless and you'll lose your temper." Izaya pointed out. "No matter what I do, I'll end up treading on your toes and you'll react badly."

"Then don't tread on my toes." Shizuo glared at him.

Though not intimidated by Shizuo's glare, Izaya kept quiet anyway. He shrugged his shoulders and Celty looked between them and started typing. She held up her PDA for the pair of them to read.

[Your sisters, what of them?]

Izaya frowned at reading that. "They should be safe enough at home but I don't know all of the information that the group have on me. Could you perhaps do something to keep them safe? I'm afraid I'll have to pay you back on a later date."

Celty cleared her screen and typed again. [We'll deal with them. I'll watch over them until your parents return home each day.] The message on the screen was shown to Izaya and he nodded.

"Very well, thanks Celty-san~" he replied with a sickly sweet smile. "I'm sure you'll make a wonderful babysitter."

A curious look was on Shizuo's face as he watched the exchange. Celty simply nodded her head, much too accustomed to dealing with Izaya's personality to be bothered by the insincere smile.

[I'll leave now. Please take care.] She held the message up and Shizuo nodded.

"You too, I'll see you around." He stood up and held his door open for Celty. She stopped in the doorway for a moment and typed something quickly.

[He's not all bad… maybe. There's probably a really good reason for this.]

"Not likely but I'll keep that in mind." Shizuo shrugged his shoulders.

Celty nodded and left and Shizuo shut the door behind her, turning to face Izaya. An awkward silence fell over the pair of them.

"…I'm gonna get showered," Shizuo mumbled awkwardly, moving towards his bathroom.

"Hmm, whatever." Izaya took his bag off his shoulders and started looking through it. "I need to change anyway. The brick dust in my clothes is annoying." He pulls out a laptop from the bag and inspects it closely for damage.

"Right… don't be telling anyone where you are; you're dead now. You can get a shower after me. I won't be long."

"Being chased constantly for days can get exhausting." Izaya shrugs, opening the laptop and pressing the power button. He gives a delighted laugh as it switches on. "Oh good, it works~"

Shizuo grunts and disappears into the bathroom, leaving Izaya to do what he wants.

* * *

A short while later, Shizuo gets out of the shower dressed in a white t-shirt and grey lounge pants. He finds Izaya typing away at his laptop with two hot mugs of coffee beside him on the small coffee table, one looking very milky. If Shizuo had to guess, it was probably made very sweet as well.

"I don't know how much sugar you like in your coffee but I put two spoons in." Izaya doesn't look up from the screen so doesn't see the surprised expression on Shizuo's face. He reaches out to the coffee cup and slides it closer to Shizuo. That didn't catch Shizuo's eye but the graze on the side of Izaya's hand did.

"Oi, did you clean that?" Shizuo asked, pointing at the hand. Looking up from his laptop, Izaya narrows his eyes at Shizuo.

"The cup is as clean as it can get," he returns sharply.

"I mean your hand."

Shizuo picks up the mug of coffee and gives it a quick taste. The flavour of it didn't seem bad. It's always a little different when somebody else makes it for you but he didn't sense any foul play. He drank a little more, watching Izaya.

"It's nothing." Izaya waved it off before returning to typing.

Sighing, Shizuo moves to a cupboard and rummages around a bit before throwing a small packet in Izaya's direction. It clattered across the coffee table before landing by Izaya's feet. Curious, Izaya picked up the packet and saw that it was an antiseptic wipe, still in date.

"What's next? A spit soaked handkerchief to wipe the grime from my face?" Izaya laughed as he held it up.

"If you don't like it, maybe I'll push it down your throat." Shizuo advanced on him, fists curled tight. "Use it or don't." With that, he threw a sealed plaster to the table, eyes fixed on Izaya in a glare as he grabs the front of the man's shirt.

"Back off," Izaya commands firmly, withdrawing a blade from his pocket in the blink of an eye and now the point rested beneath Shizuo's chin. He wasn't panicking; that would require him being afraid of Shizuo. If anything, he was confused. Some things were beyond Izaya's comprehension, like the workings of Shizuo's mind, and that could be very dangerous. He could not reason with him with words so a carefully chosen threat was needed.

Keeping still, Shizuo's eyes lowered to the wrist he could just see below his chin. After a slow moment, he loosened his grip on Izaya's shirt and released him before moving away. It took a deep inhale of breath with closed eyes for Shizuo to regain control of himself.

"Just do something about it." The words were gruff, coming from Shizuo's mouth. "And take a shower, you're stinking up the apartment."

Izaya bit back a snarky reply, not wanting to fight in such a small area. Instead he looked at Shizuo with a blank expression. "I will. Smoke a cigarette or something, it might help."

He kept up the blank expression until Shizuo turned away and left his apartment. Where he'd gone, Izaya didn't know but it wasn't of huge concern to him. He decided to take up on Shizuo's not so subtle request. The feel of dust stuck to his skin wasn't pleasant anyway.


End file.
